Assemble: Life, Death and Consciousness: What happens next?

Name: Assemble: Life, Death and Consciousness: What happens next?
Start: 2026-05-26T18:45:00+01:00
Location: Chester Cathedral

Schedule

Tue, 26 May, 2026 at 06:45 pm

UTC+01:00

Location

Chester Cathedral | Chester, EN

Questions about the boundaries between mind and matter, life and death, have always been of interest to humanity. The exploration of these questions has generated new scientific discoveries, philosophical and spiritual insights, and works of the imagination.
Join our panel of experts who will be discussing everything from ghosts to extra sensory and near death experiences.
Refreshments available from 18:30.
Facilitator: Jo Henwood
Panellists:
The Very Revd Professor Gordon McPhate
An Anglican priest for nearly 50 years, Gordon pursued an academic career in medicine and science, specialising in Chemical Pathology, before becoming Dean of Chester and Professor of Theology in the University of Chester for 15 years until retirement to North Wales. Gordon has spoken publicly, including on BBC Radio 4’s ‘Beyond Belief’, about his own near-death experience that led him to train for ordained ministry.
Dr Michael Daw
Michael is a consciousness researcher based at the University of Northampton who lives in Ilkley, West Yorkshire. His work explores the possible reality of phenomena such as telepathy, precognition and survival after physical death. In 2024, he won first prize in an international science competition for his essay exploring theories of consciousness, on which his forthcoming book, What is Your Mind?, is based. He received his PhD exploring the relationship between spiritual and paranormal experiences, and fasting and vegetarianism. He regularly presents to both academic and public audiences on topics related to consciousness and the environment.
Mary Ann Cameron
Mary Ann's first career was in education; she was involved in Modern Languages and management in secondary schools and then English as a Foreign or Academic language in both a college of Further Education and a university. She retired in 2013. By then, however, after completing a course under the auspices of the Institute of Tourist Guiding, Mary Ann had become a tour guide of Chester and has now been a guide for 20 years. For almost that many years she has also led ghost tours around Chester and will argue that it is the most actively haunted town in the country. One fact supporting this assertion is that the second edition of her book, Chester City of Ghosts, published in 2020, which describes the ghosts in Chester, is 3 times the length of the first edition because there are so many new reports of ghost activities in this city.